Karilyn Owen

Finding Adventure in Dinosaurland

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Last summer we took a 10 day road trip through Arizona and Utah with our family friends from Texas. While researching that trip I came across Dinosaur National Monument in northern Utah and western Colorado. We weren’t planning to be anywhere near that area so I stored it away for any future trips in the … Read more

Where to Eat in Cape Town with Kids

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Where to eat in Cape Town with KidsOne of the most stressful parts of travel for me is figuring out where to eat. Somehow I manage to research and plan most aspects of our travel, always forgetting to look at food options. However when you travel with kids (or a mama who gets hangry!) this is kind of important.

We typically find ourselves in situations with almost no choice or like in Cape Town, an abundance of options. To be honest, I found Cape Town to be a bit overwhelming in the food department because there were just so many choices everywhere we looked. However, on closer inspection, many of the places don’t have kiddie menus which means paying full price for a meal your child may or may not eat.

On our quest to find family friendly restaurants, we lucked out and found a few gems we would highly recommend to others. Below are our the top 5 restaurants we ate at in Cape Town that not only provided delicious food for children, but also helped to entertain them!

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Family Day Trip to Muir Woods

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Family Day Trip to Muir WoodsThe Bay Area is one of my favorite places on earth. Not just because I lived there for almost a decade, but because no matter where you turn you are surrounded by so much beauty. The abundance of beautiful scenery, picturesque streets and my favorite, the fog rolling in each day can’t be beat.

There is so much to do in San Francisco itself, that many visitors find it difficult to even leave the city. However, there are some great day trips that are worth taking time to explore. One of our favorites is spending the day across the Golden Gate Bridge, checking out the view points and exploring the wilderness in the Golden Gate Recreation Area as well as Muir Woods in Mill Valley.

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Where to Stay in Cape Town with Kids

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Where to Stay in Cape Town with KidsCape Town is one of the most spectacular cities I have visited in my many years of travel. From its picturesque beaches, abundance of outdoor activities and vibrant local culture, Cape Town offers something for everyone. Kids especially will love taking a cable car up the mountain, watching penguins play on the beach and exploring neighborhood playgrounds. It’s a beautiful, friendly and accessible city that welcomes visitors easily, much like my other favorite city, San Francisco. Cape Town is a wonderful place to base yourself, for as long as you possibly can!

The problem is knowing where to base yourself! While planning our trip to the city, we were stumped about what area would be best for families. There is not a ton written on exploring Cape Town with kids, so we took a gamble and chose the safe bet of the V & A Waterfront. It has its perks, but after thoroughly exploring the city, I have even more recommendations on where to stay in Cape Town with kids.

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Where To Go in Nicaragua

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Where to go in NicaraguaNicaragua is high on my travel to do list (well what isn’t really?). When a friend took off with her husband and 20 month old son for a 2 week trip, I was captivated by their adventures! I loved following their journey on Facebook and Instagram, so I asked them to share their trip with us. Selfishly it’s partly so I will know exactly where to go when we finally make it down, but also I thought others might enjoy learning more about an up and coming family destination that is easily accessibly from Los Angeles. Thank you Misti for your contribution![hr]

Nicaragua is a geographically diverse country, filled with volcanoes, lakes, beaches, jungles, mountains, coffee plantations, islands, wildlife, cities, villages, markets, lovely people and endless options for a travel itinerary. Deciding where to visit was difficult and involved loads of pouring over our Lonely Planet and various sites on the internet. We chose four varied destinations, deciding to spend a few days in each; a colorful colonial city, a peaceful volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua, a tiny and secluded Caribbean island and a hip but relaxing surf village on the Pacific coast.

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Best Urban National Parks for Families

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Many famous and well visited tourist sites in the US are classified under the national park system, however, most visitors don’t even realize it. Monuments, places of historical significance and battlefields are just some of the types of places you will find within the NPS.  Many times, the most famous of the national park system’s … Read more

Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle

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Chihuly Garden and GlassFor most visitors to Seattle, a stop at the Space Needle is a must. Now you have something else to add to the ‘must do’ list- the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit.

Located at the base of the Space Needle, there is little reason to not see it. This turned out to be one of our favorite activities while in Seattle. If you plan to see a few popular tourist spots in Seattle, check out getting the CityPASS which provides access to both of these and more at a fraction of the cost.

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Couchsurfing with Kids

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Couchsurfing with kidsA few years ago, a friend of mine went traveling for several months one winter with her 4 year old daughter. As I watched their journey I kept wondering how she was managing for so long on her own while traveling to off the beaten path locations throughout Europe. Turns out, she survived (and thrived) in part by Couchsurfing.

What is Couchsurfing?

Couchsurfing is where you stay with a host family for free. There is a website, couchsurfing.com, where you set up a profile to share with other travelers. Later, this is also where people can provide reviews of you as a host or a guest. In many ways, couchsurfing was the free pre-cursor to Airbnb. 

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Hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail with Kids

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Hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail with KidsA visit to the Big Island of Hawaii isn’t complete without a trip to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Having the opportunity to see a real live active volcano in person was one of the main reasons in going to Hawaii for our family.

One of the highlights of our Big Island road trip was a 4 mile hike through the Kilauea volcano crater. It might sound like a long hike, but even our 4.5 year old rocked it, finishing still full of energy 2.5 hrs later (a record for us!). Ascending down into the blackened crater of Kilauea with steam vents lining the trail is an unforgettable experience.

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The Hotel Monaco in Seattle: Family Friendly Luxury

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hotel Monaco in SeattleLooking for accommodation in any city can be overwhelming. What area is the best place to stay? Is it walkable? How are the rooms? Is it kid friendly?  These are some of the thoughts that go racing through my head every time I am looking to book a hotel. I find booking accommodation to be one of the most overwhelming parts of planning a trip. However, when I see a Kimpton hotel in the destination we are traveling to, my stress is immediately reduced. Every Kimpton hotel I have had the pleasure of visiting has exceeded my expectations, which says a lot because I am not known to have low expectations for accommodation.

In Seattle, visitors are lucky because there are several Kimpton hotels to choose from. We were told that the Hotel Monaco was the most child friendly (and had availability for our dates!), so my search was quickly over.

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Get off the Beaten Path: Best National Parks for Families 

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In celebration of the 100th year of the National Park Service, I will post at least once a month in some way relating to our wonderful national park system to help bring awareness to an awesome part of our country that is so often under utilized.

Most families know of the major national parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. But unbeknownst to so many Americans are the other almost 400 national parks, battlefields and monuments that are also part of the National Park System.

In this month’s national park post, top family travel bloggers have shared their favorite off the beaten path national parks that all families should make time to visit.

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Family Fun with CityPASS Seattle

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Seattle CityPASSIn researching for our recent trip to Seattle, I soon began to realize how many family friendly attractions there are in the city. There is so much to do and see in Seattle, that our to do list was growing exponentially by the day. Our visit to Seattle occurred during the cold and rainy winter season, which meant our normal MO of urban hiking and exploring outdoors wasn’t going to be quite as available. Luckily, many of Seattle’s famous attractions are indoors.  In looking at all of the things we planned to do, it became apparent that the amazing array of activities offered with the CityPASS Seattle passbook was the way to go.

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Planning a Trip to South Africa with Kids

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Photo via Flickr

This year is my 40th/10th (leap day baby) birthday. I decided I wanted something epic. For years the plan had been to go to Tibet to chill with the monks, but with the addition of a child on the scene, I realized that the chill in February might be a bit too much. Instead, our sights turned to Africa, one of only 2 continents I have yet to step foot on. And so the planning began!

I’m not one to shy away from destinations because they are ‘difficult’ or ‘dangerous’, but we definitely have felt the odds stacked against us more than once in planning this trip with a child. Here is some of what you need to know when planning a trip to South Africa with a child.

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What To Do in Wrightwood (Near Mt. High)

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What to do in WrightwoodYou managed to pack up the car, bundle up the kids and hit the road for snow tubing at Mountain High. Whew! Congrats. Oh but wait, now you have arrived only to discover that it’s either sold out for the day or that your time slot isn’t until late in the afternoon. Now what do you do? Head up to the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center!

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Calico Ghost Town | Perfect Stop Between Las Vegas & LA

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Calico Ghost TownEver since moving to California I have heard of it’s ghost towns. The few I have on my list to visit haven’t been on any route we’ve taken, so when I happened across Calico Ghost Town on our way back from Utah last summer, I was excited to make a stop.

Calico Ghost Town is perfectly located in the middle of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, making it a great stop over point for a break on the long boring drive. I will warn you though, it probably isn’t quite what you imagine a ghost town to be like, or at least it wasn’t what I thought it would look like. It is super touristy but also provides a real sense for what life might have been like back in the day.

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Dream Travel Destinations for 2016

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Travel Dreams for 2016Last year I started the year off with my dream travel list for the year. I only managed to do 3 of the items on my list, but they were pretty lofty goals if I do say so. Instead of the several international trips I had hoped for, we ended up spending much more time locally than abroad which was good in a way. I am enjoying continuing to explore all there is on offer in SoCal. 

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National Parks with Kids: A How To Guide

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America’s national park system is one of the greatest assets we have in this country, and is often the most underutilized. Growing up I never stepped foot in a national park. I didn’t even know anything about them until I fell in love with Ansel Adam’s photography in high school. But even then it seemed … Read more

Year in Review | 2015 Summary

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Year in Review: Sunset at MalibuI’ve been slow to do my year in review post. Instead I took the holidays off to just *be* with my family and not worry about writing or visiting places that I would later have to write about. It was a nice and much needed break after a year of going going going and writing writing writing.

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Cruising the Backwaters of Kerala (with kids)

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Cruising the Backwaters of KeralaOne of the most popular experiences for travelers in the Southern region of India is to take a boat tour on the backwaters in the beautiful state of Kerala.

The Backwaters of Kerala is a network of interconnected canals, rivers, lakes and inlets formed by more than 900 km of waterways. The backwaters present a unique ecosystem where freshwater from the rivers meets the seawater from the Arabian Sea. Local oarsmen take tourists to an amazing world of lush greenery and tranquility hidden from street views. From small wooden boats to large rice barges, there is something for everyone on the backwaters.

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Farm to Table, Fijian Style

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Farm to Table, Fijian StyleOne of the most unique adventures on our recent trip to Fiji was our Food Safari at the Nanuku Auberge Resort. Let me start by saying, I am not a foodie. I am actually not even an adventurous eater. I save that for my husband and apparently now also my son. What I do love is to get out of the confines of resort life to actually experience the places we visit. With less than cooperative weather during our stay at Nanuku, our options for outside exploration were somewhat limited. Dying to get out to explore, we opted to experience Nanuku’s Food Safari excursion.

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